Mt Hood Vacation Rentals Philanthropy

The business philosophy at Mt Hood Vacation Rentals revolves around community, relationships and social responsibility. We work to integrate philanthropy, sustainability, diversity, human rights and responsible business practices into our daily culture. To echo this commitment to social responsibility in a broader, more universal scale, Mt Hood Vacation Rentals will be donating funds to several charities each year.

As a locally owned and operated small business working within the quaint and very special communities of the Villages of Mt Hood, we recognize our responsibility to give back locally and globally. We have selected these charities not only for their specific causes, but also because they do good work and are well-managed.

Enjoy a fabulous Mt Hood vacation and help us raise money for worth-while and important charities. When you book your reservation in a Mt Hood Vacation Rental, we will automatically add an optional $5.00 donation for the charities listed below. If you choose to keep this $5.00 donation with your reservation, Mt Hood Vacation Rentals will match the donation. Each quarter, we will donate all charitable funds received plus our matching dollars in equal amounts to these charities.

It is our mission that the essence of community, relationships and social responsibility permeates not only our own company, but our community, society and humanity as a whole.

AntFarm in Sandy is a place for youth to achieve their dreams, find their passion and work as a community. Volunteers tutor, mentor, guide and inspire. The AntFarm works with youth via indoor classrooms and outdoor experiential learning, community gardens, the operation of a cafe, and Farmers' Market, trail building, CommunityConnect assisting local seniors as well as many other programs. AntFarm is a community that is growing by leaps and bounds every day. AntFarm lives by the empowering words "The Might of One, The Power of Many".

Mt Hood Vacation Rentals donates all deposit cans and bottles (beer, soft drinks and water) left by guests in the vacation rentals to the AntFarm. As our guest, when you recycle, we appreciate that you seperate the deposit containers from the other recyclables. AntFarm uses the proceeds to help pay the rent on the building that houses the support team, community center, classrooms and the cafe.

Our entire team likes to help local charities and especially the AntFarm for all of the positive work they do with local youth.

Autism Speakswas founded in February 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of a child with autism. Building upon the legacy of three leading autism organizations, which merged with the organization, Autism Speaks has made extraordinary advancements in the autism community. Chief among these are increased global awareness of autism, better understanding of the breadth of the autism spectrum, and advocacy to increase research and access to care and support. Today, Autism Speaks is dedicated to advancing research into causes and better treatments for autism spectrum disorders and related conditions both through direct funding and collaboration; increasing understanding and acceptance of autism spectrum disorders; and working toward solutions for the needs of individuals with autism and their families across the spectrum and lifespan through advocacy and support.

Kayla has an adult family member who has been challenged with autism for decades. She hopes that with more research, other families will not have the same difficulties that her family has endured.

Central City Concern, based in Portland, Oregon, meets its mission through innovative outcome based strategies which support personal and community transformation utilizing direct access to housing which supports lifestyle change, integrated healthcare services that are highly effective in engaging people who are often alienated from mainstream systems, the development of peer relationships that nurture and support personal transformation and recovery, attainment of income through employment or accessing benefits. The success of these four elements results in an transformation of world view and self image from a negative to a positive outlook, enabling people to become productive citizens who want to “give something back” to the community.

Debi cares about helping people with addictions so they can become healthy and sober to live happier lives. She recognizes that many homeless people also deal with addiction issues.

For children diagnosed with serious illness and their families, every moment is precious. At the Children's Cancer Association (CCA), the goal is to transform as many of those moments as possible — with joy. That’s why CCA programs leverage music, nature, friendship, and resources to create transformative moments of joy for 35,000 children, teens, and their family members each year. Unlike many organizations dedicated to the worthy goal of someday finding a cure for cancer, CCA is all about creating joy today. When seriously ill children, teens, and their families need more than medicine, CCA’s innovative programs create joy one moment at a time.

What CCA Believes: "We believe kids deserve long, wonderful lives. Or, at the very least, short, wonderful lives. We believe cancer sucks. We’ve had it, or loved someone who did. We prescribe moments of joy for kids who are in the fight against all serious illness. We believe joy grows exponentially when it’s used collectively. We are music medicine pioneers. We believe in purple. We know joy comes in all colors, shapes, and sizes – just like the kids we help. We love to laugh. We are not afraid to cry. We spend every dollar wisely. We give hugs freely. We believe in today. We respect our history as a grassroots organization. We embrace our destiny as a global source of JoyRx. We believe these things matter."

Our former employee, Amber left her job here to start a family. Shortly after her daughter was born, they discovered the baby had a cancerous tumor behind her right eye and cancer cells in her right eye. Before her first birthday, baby Charlotte has undergone several surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation including the removal of her eye and receiving a prosthetic eye. For now, her prognosis is very good. The family has been able to get through this trying time with CCA's JoyRx. Amber's Mom and Charlotte's Grandma, Mel works at MHVR.

Since 1942, Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) has been creating partnerships between people, dogs, and communities. With exceptional client services and a robust network of instructors, puppy raisers, donors, and volunteers, we prepare highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or have low vision from throughout the United States and Canada. All of the services for GDB clients are provided free of charge, including personalized training and extensive post-graduation support, plus financial assistance for veterinary care, if needed. GDB work is made possible by the generous support of donors and volunteers; GDB receives no government funding.

Steve very much appreciates his vision and ability to get around easily and wants to help people who need the assistance of a Guide Dog. The closest Guide Dogs for the Blind facility is in Boring, Oregon, about 30 minutes southeast of Welches.

Neighborhood Missions is a community outreach program sponsored by Hoodland Lutheran Church responding to family needs by providing emergency food and financial assistance for heating supplies, medicine, utility payments, gasoline vouchers, transportation, and bus passes to people in temporary need. The food pantry is stocked with donated food that is available to anyone in need in the service area from Alder Creek to Government Camp. There is also an active firewood ministry for families who need assistance in heating their homes with woodstoves. Neighborhood Missions has been in existence for over 20 years evolving into a very dynamic group of people on the mountain serving their community.

Everyone on the team at Mt Hood Vacation Rentals feels fortunate to be healthy, happy and living well. We enjoy giving to those in our community who need it most. We also donate non-perishable foods and item left behind by guests who do not choose to take them home.

Hoodland Senior Center is a non-profit organization designed to develop programs and provide opportunites that promote independent living for senior adults so they can age in place in the local Mt Hood community. Planned Monthly Trips for seniors include weekly activities and lunch, access to information about medical and legal assistance, transportation, equipment loan programs, home meal delivery and volunteer opportunities. Mt Hood Vacation Rentals donates funds to the Senior Center every year as well as purchasing items during fund-raising events. The past two years, we have purchased apple pies for our guests during the holidays.

Many of our team members have family members who have benefited from the services of the Hoodland Senior Center and enjoy helping to keep this organization working for the seniors in our villages.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) funds research that transforms the lives of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). JDRF wants a cure, and won’t stop until one is found. Along the way, JDRF will continue to drive scientific progress that delivers new treatments and therapies that make day-to-day life with T1D easier, safer and healthier. Since its founding, JDRF has aggressively raised awareness, raised or directed nearly $5 billion to researching a cure and supported the T1D community. JDRF drives innovation, demands action and stands with everyone facing life with type 1. Current research includes artificial pancreas work, beta cell replacement, glucose control, prevention, restoration, complications, funded research and funded early-career scientists.

One of our team members was diagnosed with TD1 at only 11 months old. As an adult she lives with health challenges daily and finding a cure would be a life-changing event for her as well as 1.25 million other Americans.

Mt Hood Learning Center in Welches is the only preschool with a childcare center in Welches, serving the Hoodland Villages of Government Camp, Rhododendron, Zigzag, Welches and Brightwood. This non-profit organization runs on a shoestring budget and appreciates donations. The Mt Hood Learning Center provides every child with a quality enriched childhood experience, striving to create a safe, nurturing and developmentally appropriate environment in which children will develop school readiness skills but will also foster a passion for learning through a hands-on program here in the Welches Community. Their program furthers natural learning through creative play, singing, movement, story time, outside play and nature walks, preserving the gifts of childhood while preparing children to meet life with joy, enthusiasm and confidence. The Mt Hood Learning Center encourages children to satisfy their natural curiosity developing their lifelong passion for learning and discovery.

Everyone on the MHVR team supports early childhood education especially with very limited resources in our small, rural community, we want to do our share to encourage and nurture the youngest residents in the Mt Hood area.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation's leading voice on mental health. Today, we are an association of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and volunteers who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.

Education: Offered in thousands of communities across the United States through NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need.

Advocacy. NAMI shapes national public policy for people with mental illness and their families and provides volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to save mental health in all states.

Leadership: Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks, successfully fight stigma and encourage understanding. NAMI works with reporters on a daily basis to make sure our country understands the importance of mental health.

Cari wants to shine more light on mental health awareness to help educate and to take the shame away from being able to talk about mental illness.

The Oregon Humane Society rescues, heals and adopts more than 11,000 pets each year. OHS never places a time limit on how long cats, dogs or other pets stay at their shelter. OHS relies upon donations to support adoption, education and animal cruelty investigation programs. "End Petlessness. There's a furry soulmate for everyone."

Founded in 1868 by noted humanitarian Thomas Lamb Eliot, OHS is the third-oldest humane society in the nation and the oldest in the West. Eliot initially established OHS to stop the neglect and abuse of draft animals. The mission expanded to include companion animals and, until 1933, orphaned children. OHS adopts more animals from the Portland shelter than any other single-facility shelter on the West Coast. OHS puts no time limits on how long animals remain at the shelter—a pet stays available for adoption for as long as needed to find a loving home. If a pet in the care of OHS needs medical attention, our veterinary hospital provides the pet with same level of care you would want your own pet to receive.

All of our team members are animal lovers and pet owners and most have adopted dogs and cats that needed homes. we want to be sure that any stray or lost animal will be well-cared for and find its forever home.

If you travel in Oregon, you’ve probably noticed that we’re pretty green-minded. From pioneering recycling programs to thoughtful land use laws to bike friendly cities, our commitment to sustainability is everywhere. The way we see it, if we treat the places we love to see and explore gently, they’ll remain available for many years to come. The Travel Oregon Forever Fund supports projects that preserve Oregon’s natural landscapes and cultural heritage for visitors and locals to enjoy.

The TravelOregon Forever Fund features seven project beneficiaries selected for maximum destination impact, one from each region of Oregon.

As a tourism business in Oregon, it is important to Mt Hood Vacation Rentals to sustain Oregon's natural environment for our current travelers and for visitors for generations to come.